Wet spring weather has brought mixed blessings

In between the rain, spring found its way back this year It's been a boon to grass farmers. I stopped to visit Bill Dorsett of Efland, N.C., the other day. He was out in the field cutting hay in late April. He reports that the first cutting looks good. It definitely smelled good. I got back in my car with a lot of grass-inhabiting insects on my shirt.

On the Efland-Cedar Grove Road, another farmer was cutting his land. Cows were making their way to the milking barn.

In Virginia, Billy Bain hosted a group of second graders on his farm. The field day marked the 250th anniversary of Dinwiddie County and gave youngsters an opportunity to see a working farm.

Back on the road to points south, the activity continued to pick up. Tobacco transplanting was in full swing. Land was bedded up to take the transplants. In just a few months, we'll be reporting on harvest. Now, it's a buyout we're talking about.

Off another side road, a farmer makes up for lost time due to the rain.

So far, the rain has come early this year. Let's hope it continues when the crop gets up.

I always judge the beginning of spring by the daffodils. They are one of the first flowers to signal the beginning of new things in the spring. April showers…

The long awaited fragrances of earth and rain stir the mind. Fresh soil gives the same feeling as a good, long bath. It's renewing and refreshing.

In between the rain, some farmers were able to get their corn planted earlier this fall in the upper Southeast. Most had to wait.

One South Carolina producer I snapped a picture of told me that he was “30 days late to the day” in getting his corn planted.

A late-April break in the excessive rain had many out in the field. Soybean planting was in full swing and cotton planting was beginning. Peanuts are not far behind, then wheat harvest and the summer. I spotted some vegetable harvest underway.

“Easter is past,” one church sign read, “Its benefits continue.”

As I was making my way back home to southeastern North Carolina, I pulled off the main road and drove for a few miles. As the sun was going down, I pulled behind a farmer headed home in the twilight after a long, hard day.

Busy, busy, busy. But not too busy to stop for a break and talk for a few minutes. I never met a farmer I didn't like.